Hey Travis,

I personally go with the way you're leaning. I don;t allow laptops in class for the obvious reasons you mentioned - they're far too distracting! I usually justify this to my students by outlining that it's far more efficient and intuitive (for the majority) to write notes and compare them with the Powerpoint slides; if there are any discrepancies or questions, they can come and talk to me about them.

I feel that far too many students think that EVERYTHING they need to know for the course is on the PPT slides, when I ask many questions that aren't, and I tell them this up front. By keeping the laptops out of the classroom (given the way I teach), it is far more productive and students tend to do much better in terms of their grades and learning. Indeed, I compared two years of grades from a 1st year course I was teaching, one allowing laptops and one not allowing them, and saw a marked difference in the class average - 65.7% with laptops vs. 74.3% without. Albeit this was only a comparison of 2 years and there are numerous factors that could have contributed to the difference in class average, I've since decided to keep laptops out of the classroom.

Also, just as a heads-up, there are mobile apps that you can use for in-class quizzing if you wanted to elect not to do the pen and paper method. I used a program called Top Hat (https://tophat.com/) in a course last year for in-class quizzes. Essentially, you create an account, make a quiz, get a number, and the students can text that number with their answer. You can even show real-time results in your Powerpoint and know when people have answered. The nice thing with this is that you can also keep track of class attendance with it (providing you students don't have time to text their friends skipping class the question; I only gave them 30 seconds to answer). Anyway I digress - something to consider if you haven't already!

Cheers,

Jeff

Dear Travis 

I do not think the laptop is necessarily a distracting factors. The distraction is mainly a result of lack of interest and this distraction may occur either with or without them . Many of my students  in teachers trainning courses bring to others and show leaved  examples in classrooms, as developed activities etc. which are  difficult without the laptop. Many of them(student)  prefer to take notes directly on the laptop. I not see why the need to prohibit its use in the classroom.

Hello Jeff and Jorge

Thank you for your great input! Jeff, I thought about using one of those apps, but I often use the "five minute paper" or have them take notes from a class discussion. I found that pen and paper is just easier! I also am leaning towards having a no cell phone policy in my class, as cell phones can now distract students even more so than laptops! 

Jorge, while students may be distracted with or without a laptop, please read the paper I cited in my original post. Research is finding that when students have access to their laptops, they multi-task. Best case, they work on an assignment during lecture time, worst case they are on facebook or twitter... even youtube. Without the laptop if they are distracted they do not have access to facebook to KEEP them distracted, and hopefully you can pull them back into the lecture. 

Research is also showing that these laptop users distract other students around them. I can personally attest from my undergraduate experience that even when I am 100% engrossed by the lecture material, it is impossible to pay attention if the student in front of you is watching a movie,. playing a computer game.. or surfing facebook.

In my opinion, in a perfect world we would let students use their laptops as if they distract themselves, that is their own business. However, if what they are doing detracts from the learning of other students, we need to step in and police it. 

There are of course, going to be obvious exceptions to this. Classes which use computers as part of the instruction (like stats or computer sciences etc) or with computer based interactive components are going to have to take a different direction than other lecture based courses. In that case the best course of action may be to monitor or limit internet access.

Thanks 

Travis 

Why not? I allowed laptops. Students are there to learn, to "buy" my knowledge. Of course, not checking what students are doing with laptops during lectures. I’ll try to explain way.

You may try different approach. I’ve used constructivist approach instead objectivistic in teaching/lecturing. For example, your faculty must have some LMS (I do not like or prefer term eLearning in this case), so you could put in the “air” your notes, slides, videos, etc., as well as suitable literature/textbooks. The students have to read that material before. Then your lecture has to be full discussion on the topics. Of course you are the animator/director of that “performance”.

We try to investigate various techniques to help learners to improve learning effects using e-learning systems. We propose an e-learning architecture with a recommendation module consisting of several different kinds of pedagogical agents which actively participate in learning processes, provoking learners and motivating them to learn more effectively. For the purpose of our research we distinguish two groups of agents. The first group consists of pedagogical agents with diverse functionalities and potential. The second group includes harvesting agents employed in educational environments with the main goal of collecting different learning resources. Initial ideas are how to incorporate different kinds of agents: Harvesting, Provoking, and Zestful, etc.

Both Zestful and Provoking agents have the same goal – to increase the learner’s quality of learning - but approach to this task differently. The Zestful agent offers hints that, in the usual methodology of teaching programming languages, represent useful directions for problem solving as propositions of appropriate solutions to the given problem. The Provoking agent, on the other hand, tries to steer the process of learning and problem solving in a bad direction by offering wrong parts of the code. That is, it offers false hints and suggests bad solutions to the given problem. The basic rationale behind this approach is to encourage learners not to follow the tutor’s instructions blindly, but rather to employ critical thinking and, in the end, they them-selves decide on the proper solution to the problem.

Also, you could provide some home works for the students. For example, you finished classes about word processing in some course for computing literacy. After some time, give to the students your CV generating by ResearchGate (for example), and ask them “How many times does my name appear in that document?”

Or, novice students make mistakes in programming, design, and particularly in problem solving. And they are aware of that. Students “believe” that teacher is a person who always tells the truth, so they accept the facts and solutions without checking them. Moreover, the students take and accept some facts without checking the source of them, from Internet for example. Students often don't know how to interpret the error messages, or what to do to solve problems that are diagnosed. Debugging and Testing are an essential skill, whether done with a sophisticated debugger, or just by comparing actual outputs or results with expectations, as well as to have the whole picture of the problem and test properly the given solution from teacher. For example, the pattern was used in Basic of Computer Literacy course for non-professionals (like students with major in Geography) at the University of Novi Sad. Topic on data types and potential problems with them (such as division by zero for numbers, for example) was taught at the beginning of the course. After a while, branching and control structures were done, and their usage in solving some problems is presented. The students together with lecturer solve some problem using these branching and control structures. The lecturer conducted the output. But, the “hidden” special case is not seen by students, i.e. for the particular data entry the program could crushed. They miss to observe the case which leads in dividing by zero. This case lecturer "wisely" ignore in the analysis of the task. Next class, students still did not notice the mistake, and lecturer admitted his “sin”, and explains the reason and consequences of mistake. Couple weeks later, students get the assignment very similar to previously, but in some other context. They all do the assignment without a single mistake.

I want to say, you have to provoke with the right questions/tasks, to determine how students have progressed and understand what you are teaches.

At the end, do not forget good old methods in teaching, like use of some physical device, such as a toy, that has some of the characteristics of the concept being taught (see https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234037026_Pedagogical_Patterns_For_Learning_Programming_By_Mistakes_(Presentation)?ev=prf_pub, page 19-21), together with some ICT simulation and chalk / board explanations.

Data Pedagogical Patterns For Learning Programming By Mistakes (P...

Hello Ljubomir

You raise some very good points! I think it is key to point out that how useful a computer or computer based interactive activities are, is going to vary based upon class content and teacher style.

In general I think the best method of teaching is to facilitate self learning, to help guide students in a quest of self enlightenment and self directed learning. The lectures can then become more discussion based. However, in a class of 350 students who need to understand the optimum foraging model, this is not likely the most effective method. Or perhaps in a zoology lab where 300 students need to learn to locate, identify, and quantify Girardia cysts.  In these, a more lecture based method may be required.

However, I think this is all tangential to the point: Are laptops distracting? Even if the course you have designed is fully interactive, with students engaged in discussion with professors and each other; how many students will access Facebook or non-task related items on their laptop? I have been present in lectures where a stats professor has taught the students the ANOVA framework using a very interactive discussion based method. I was observing her lecture for pointers and noticed, as I was at the back of the room, students accessing Facebook, youtube, etc. They then point out interesting photos etc to their neighbors, and the students sitting behind these students started paying attention to the non-task related material as well.

In short, the laptop allowed the students to multi-task and thus distracted not only them but their neighbors as well. These students then took no part in the discussion, asked numerous questions at a later date which were covered by the group, and did not do very well on the assignment. 

While laptops may be wonderful additions in some settings - like those you described - in other settings they may be very detrimental. It may be that laptop use will have to vary based upon course material, course structure,. and teaching style! 

Finally, students can access my notes before class, as I ensure they are always available online 24hrs prior to lecture. Students can then print them off and bring them to class and write down notes. So they do not need their laptops in my class. 

Thanks

Travis 

@Travis,

You're right.

But, 300 students is to much. At my University (I'm at Computer Science dept.), we divided our 90 (app) students in 3-4 smaller groups. So the lecturers have to work more. We practice TEAM TEACHING pedagogical pattern (more then one lecturers are involved in teaching the course(s). Also some variation of FLIPPED CLASSROOM techniques (variation for high education) and our CLOUD.

I agree that I work in the field where computers (laptop, tablets) are part of learning goals as well as part of teaching tools.

My recommendation to others is allow usage of computers (laptop, tablets)... and improve your pedagogical knowledge to use this machines in teaching/learning. Yes it is very, very hard and demand job, bat TEACHING is ART.

At the end here is one nice quotation:

“Our goal is to transform how children learn, what they learn, who they learn from.”

Mitchel Resnick, A Media Lab for Kids in Resnick M., A Media Lab for Kids: $27 Million from Isao Okawa Creates Center for Future Children at MIT, MIT News. (November 18, 1998.)

Thanks

Ljubomir

Hello Ljubomir

I agree that 300 students is too many, but it is far easier to make that observation than it is to fix the situation. With regards to team teaching,  I have seen it done well, and seen it done poorly. I am not sure that team teaching is always the best method, but that is tangential to our discussion here. 

I think it is far to simplistic to say "allow laptops and improve our pedagogical knowledge in order for us to use them." I am not trying to be difficult, but I think that neatly dodges the question of: "Are the benefits of laptops greater than the costs associated with the distracting, non-task related mediums students can access with them." This cost is then compounded if students can distract those around them!

A very simple analogy is that we would not allow a student to carry on a very loud conversation in lecture about the latest hairstyle as that would be distracting to everyone involved. 

Regardless of how well we teach, how well we integrate the laptops into our methods, or our teaching methods, laptops could be distracting. All you have to do is sit at the back of the lecture theater, or read the paper I cited in my original post, and you will see that numerous students with laptops will access non-task related medium. 

The question then becomes, are the laptops worth it? The answer, in my opinion, is not a simple one. In some situations, with some instructors the laptops may have a net benefit, while in others, they may be too detrimental. I can not agree that we can posit a blanket statement that we need to use laptops and improve our teaching skills. That disregards entirely the potential costs of this teaching method.

Travis